David Flanagan aims his Arrow at three potentially huge targets

That’s the obvious conclusion after his Arrow Minerals just applied for another key piece of land in the heart of WA’s rich Pilbara iron ore region.

This latest tenement, which cost Arrow just $7,000 to peg, sits 2km from Rio’s big open pit mine. And while Rio hold the rights to any water on the tenement, the mining giant has not put its foot on the iron ore rights. This is despite hitting iron ore in numerous holes it drilled there several  years ago.

Flanagan, ever the opportunist, struck last week. The tenement sits right next to those which Arrow has been quietly accumulating in recent months.

The upshot is that Arrow now has a 415sq km landholding in this world-class iron ore province on the doorstep of some of Rio’s most valuable operations.

Flanagan says the upside is simply enormous. And the potential is made all the more lucrative by Rio’s nearby rail line and the adjacent national highway, which connects Arrow’s land to the port just 60km away.

His strategy is about as straightforward as it gets. Drill the tenement, establish an inventory of scale and using a low-cost contractor-assisted model, establish a rapid path to production and cashflow.  

And if Rio wants to acquire Arrow’s interest along the way, that could be a nice little earner for Arrow shareholders too.

But iron ore is not Arrow’s only Pilbara passion. The company has also recently acquired the Yarraloola copper-gold project.

Mining giant WMC confirmed the presence of copper at Yarraloola in the 1970s – but with metal prices not so buoyant back then, decided not to pursue it.

Highly regarded geophysics consultants Newexco reported gold and silver in samples it collected near the historical copper mine on the tenements.

Newexco has also identified geophysical anomalies that Arrow plans to start drilling over the next few months.

Arrow’s third potentially game-changing asset lies a long way from the Pilbara in the form of the Niagara bauxite project in Guinea.

Complete with a huge resource of 184Mt grading 42.3% Al₂O₃, Niagara is located just 100km from the Simandou rail line built by Rio and its Chinese partners to service their giant new iron ore mine.     

Arrow says Niagara is a world-class asset that is perfectly placed to capitalise on growing demand for bauxite and the substantial spare capacity expected on the rail line.

An updated scoping study is underway with the aim of establishing a DSO operation that would give it an expedited pathway to production and cashflow.

Flanagan says Arrow has three tickets in a potentially life-changing lottery for investors.

“If just one of these projects comes in for us, investors are staring at huge returns based on the current share price,” he says.

“The potential upside from exploration success at the iron ore and the copper projects is immense. And the free cashflow potential at Niagara alone could transform the company and our market cap.

“The next six months will see us progressing all three projects rapidly, driving strong newsflow as we seek to generate substantial growth in our market value”.